Best apps for foreign visitors in China and which are useless – like Google Maps.

By Mark Andrews

South China Morning Post.
13/08/2023

WeChat and Alipay might both have made it easier for foreigners to pay for things in China recently, but visitors still face many hurdles to a successful trip

Ten years ago, tourists visiting China would have been struck by the cash-based nature of its society. But the country has since gone full swing, leapfrogging the use of credit and debit cards to run on a system based almost exclusively on phones.

However, a big problem for visitors had been that it was difficult to link foreign bank cards to the ubiquitous WeChat and Alipay QR payment systems.

That was, until recently. In July, both WeChat and Alipay began allowing users to link international cards to their payment systems. (Alipay is operated by Alibaba, which owns the Post.)

You can read the full article here

The former Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank and Custom House buildings on Shanghai’s historic Bund seen at night in Shanghai, China.
Mark Andrews has written about everything from Japanese houses to heli hikes on New Zealand glaciers, test drives of Chinese cars to bar and restaurant reviews. He currently specialises in travel articles and reviews of Chinese cars plus articles about the Chinese auto industry.

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